my gift oh my gift

Everyone has a gift

Sometimes born

Other times acquired

My gift oh my gift

Like a double edged sword

Cuts from all sides

Friends and foes alike

My gift oh my gift

Like the pen of the writer

Man’s mind to represent

When light exposes the dark

My gift oh my gift

The first time it caused laughter

The second pain and grief

All from one, who made all

My gift, oh my gift

If it were gold, why am I poor?

If for my good, where gone my friends?

If my joy would always hag my pain…

My gift oh my gift

When I was neared, their envy

Made me now deserted, their hate

All because of my inheritance

My gift oh my gift

Oh my gift I cannot destroy

Oh how long can I contain

An inborn gift I cannot control

Until my earthly part destroyed

GBOBALO

Ye who took our names

Ye who refused to stay

Nor remain in the grave

But her womb torment and torment

Gbobalo ogbanje gbo kaaba don

Our anger will mark your faces

No more our cherished names

But naanyo ogbanje gbobalo

We’ll mourn you no more

You who refuse to stay long

On the land and in the grave

We’ll not spit

But our saliva lick

Our wells have dried up

Our pots are broken

Our tears they overflow

At your soul we’ll hoot and shoot

Or gather no more we because of you

We dig no more into the earth, you to lay

Into the evil forest go we, you to leave
For termites you to chew

Gbo kaaba don

Gbobalo ogbanje

May the head of the ram

Roll away your feet to leave

Into these dark shadows of no return

Where you once lived

 

Oh cruel spirits of Ogbanje

Of Gbobalo

Gbo kaaba don

Leave

We in peace.

We’ll live!

Leave

With your kola.

In peace we’ll live!

Leave

Drink the blood spill.

In peace we’ll live!

They have come like miners, all

All the water in us to drain

Stolen waters they still take

Even through the same outlet

Long after our pots are broken

Overflowing their tear drops.

You die and refuse to sleep

You who were born

You who refuse to live

Da yie, sleep yaawo jogban

Rest your energetic bodies

We have drawn our net

And our catch has been stale

Keepers of the underworld

Sleep not, rest not

Tie their restless souls

Hold with invisible chains

The unfailing strength

Ours is the well

Already drying up

Its water has dried deep

And our pots fit no more on our waiting heads

They overflow their broken parts

With tears they cannot contain

Spirits of Akokoshie we’ll not call

We refuse your sweet water

For our soul is bitter

Just a drop of your presence

Oh spirits of Ten tso

Receive our heartfelt gratitude

Your solidarity for the past week

Before we laid to rest

Those tireless same faces

Same body 

Same day

Our pots got broken.

MUCH TO DO ABOUT NOTHING

Long walks at night

Has killed and buried

Long lonely nights

With fanciful dreams

Only I could weave

An evening without a desert

Even water, left seats deserted

Friends did not come near

When lovers come here

Much to say to none

Much to do about nothing

Hands held fast to telephone

To seal the cracks between the pillars

Not with cement or sand

But frozen words fond memories

Memories which never got expressed

Even after the hand set was picked

My priorities not their interest

Only to rot and decay, abandoned they

At night would sleep in peace, they

At night would stay awake, I

A terrible noise within enclosed silence

Will wake me up again and again

Should I fall asleep again?

verses to remember

Many a dusty wind blew my way

To cover my white linen

Many my tear drop and itching, its passing

My sobbing, my sighing, so many

This never saw light of day

To leave effects unbearable today

In this memory distorted

In a smile my face will hide

A happy man for others, that I am

Indeed the good which therein lies

Scenes to reform my life

These fruits, soon alive to bloom

Fast my response will be

To close my eyes if another is fleeting

This lingering effect on me to reduce

Thus the legacy which it left

Along my drains so full it filled

Allowing not any to flow, freely at all times

A life satiated with blowing storms

A life bursting of collected deposits of impasse

A more affluent life to lead till the end of time

Weep but a little, oh worms in the sand

Leave your mind alert in all

To strike when it is hot

Lest, the bulk you’ll lose

Step at a time, at your pace

You must take, in all haste

Listen, lest you might miss another

Listen, not when down it weighs

Listen! That way, it lies ahead

Sound it on the roof top

Search it even on the path

Set it free, your lips, for the approaching ear

Be patient if it delays

Be perseverant in your wait

Anything is possible, even the little, regard it

It would not be like the world

What has been seen, heard, or done

But soon will be, go- man- go

On on you must go

On on it will go

On on to soon follow

Forget them not, especially her

Whose feet you often heard at your side

Should you be there and you hear no more

Forget not too, what came out

When your lips embraced their ear

Else like thorns in your flesh, your journey through

Like seeds scattered in a planted field

The crow high in the sky will search and dig

His search, try always to escape

Together they may dig and cover with earth

Their seed, their strength no more needed

When the sky, its gentle arrows descend

Each according to his strength

Each according to the soil, germinates

To taste sweet or bitter, its fruits

When the chickens finally come home to roost

May you be guiltless in their hoot

For the day is weary and darkness flaps its wings across the sky

Surely will return like a dog searching a prey

Will not forget its master’s door post

If even for years gone, to embrace

Fast about all, you could lie

Free in your mind, you would not hide

From reality weighing down on your neckline

laugh not at me

Laugh not at me

If u lie within the carved

And under mounted branches

Seeping falling rain

Running

flapping and flapping

As they lie down to flap and flap

Face to face, white and black

Their light dims and shines

White will fly through the green

Not knowing what more to settle on

Saturated by their pleasant sight

Of their petals

Dazed by a gentle irresistible suck of their sap

Flapping in the air they will flap

Not waving, else their heart will break 

Soon to see other butterflies

Landing on what has been restored

what i have for her

What I have for her

He has too if not more.

Look at my hands

Like what you left

The last time I hugged you.

Seeing those twinkling eyes

Entering speedily into their roots

Not like when you left

Only some few months passed

Only some hours away

Has indeed turned you away

" THE DRAEM ONE HAD"

One had the dream
Few were we in search this path
This light of the mind from afar.

In the mind of one
In the lips of few
In the ears of many
They gathered to hear
Surrounded to grow 
Taller, than the elephant grasses 

By your mercies oh gentle greens
Their dangling doubt 
Have you exposed;
Through your rewarding rays
As the dusty winds soak up their tears.

We climbed the mounts
We descended the vales
And trees, on top we lay.

Our bodies tired and worn out
Yet did we not diminish 
Our number; and
Our thirst and hunger 
Felt we no more.

Under this beam 
They cast their minds back:
Afar where the eyes cannot reach.

We are together again
Here we are to gain

It has been long a path;
A meandering, rugged and dusty path.

We walked not with legs
But a talk
We walked not with their talk
But the talk

We are together again 
We are together at last
To walk the talk.

NO WHERE COOL

If you blossom tall

Like the palm

Your branches they will cut

Because of its juicy fruits

If you are at reach too

Your tenderness

Will they parade

In pieces on Sunday

And we only look on

And we only look on

As if we never saw it

As he looked up

And slowly

As he crawled away

And we only look on

His hands lifted up

And never a coin

In his palm to drop

As they pass away

Thought it wise to do

Exactly what her thoughts were

So her accusations will not fall rightly

On my head as

She hit the hammer.

BE CAREFUL

Faces that tell of the inside

Wear not around them that crucify you

And reveal the wetness

Hidden in your tear glands;

That picture you fallen when standing

Mock not with them

Not even for a while

When all is well

Be mindful what you say

Be careful what you do

This place is not your home

For soon you will leave

Attitudes and manners

You leave behind

Even when departed;

Disregard them not.

Only like branches in the wind those words of ignorance blow

And return you wherever they took you.

Instructions and reproof

May appear to harm

Yet will give off smell so pleasing

An incense to the undying soul.

Those eyes that saw you

Will never forget your deeds, all.

For and against, which they record

Will they recall.

Opportunities lost are never returned

When time and chance

Are spent not on gold.

Like a tale to a child I have said it:

Be mindful what you say

Be careful what you do

This place is not your home

For soon you’ll leave.

Again in this world or next

Shall we meet

Lesser or greater we’ll be.

Those, will be remembered of you

This ear will resound it again

Pleasant or foul your deeds

Written in ink indelible.

Be mindful, what you’ve said

Be careful, what you’ve done

In this place which is not your home;

Then you’ll be gone. 

struggling for humanity

And I can hear the waters

Falling down slowly into each barrel

Fading strength intensifying gradually

And yet she struggles for humanity

two friends

Two

       Friends in their trade

One

       Violently assaulting

One

       Calmly amending

One’s

       Wrath with their encounter

       In a bus

Two male friends

One in hair logs

       His ears pierced

One in a well cut hair

       Beside the other seated

A bible

One has, the other not

       As it drove away

Two, together to their church 

fallen vegetables

Fallen vegetables

They go in a quick haste

A hasty departure from the stall

Fallen vegetables all lying on the floor

Hard on clients the day before

Denying selling less their fair

Fallen vegetables

Sundays will lie rotten

No one, there to sell

To someone if even will buy

CUBA: la maravilla

Who will tell of your wonder?

And the twisting and turning

Of your body and feet

As the hands roll it all

On the cleanest shores

With only sugarcane

From the overgrown fields

Who will tell of your wonder?

Of self satisfaction of contentment

That all must be respected

Not because of black or white

But traditions which are valued

And tied with culture to preserve

To remain green as ever, oh wonderful.

Who will tell of your wonder

O land of beautiful people

The sun will not stop setting

on your clean beaches

and keeping the sleeping night awake

in joy on the streets

oh wonderful like Patio Alberto Cecilia Julia

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Which will make you wonder and marvel

O wonderful people our friends

Having love in their hearts

And true smile on their bright faces

unlike those who took away

their canes from their fields,

let not the sun stop shinning

on their beaches o Havana

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Where our minds were shaped

Fidel’s Havana Marti’s Havana

In envy they sought to destroy

The twisting and turning

Of your body and feet

Which the hand rolls all along

In wonder to watch from afar

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Wonderful people with love in their hearts

True smiles which faded not

In winter like in summer

Of her twisting and turning

I have watched from afar

In wonder, I would learn to be like her

i will not bow

Even in the most turbulent blowing winds

I will not bow but raise my head high

Into the sky where there is no one but reliable friends

Even when my eyes blurred by darkness

His star through the long night will guide

My skin no more the heat to sweat

My eyes no more its lids to flap

M y ears no more the waves to grab

Yet in the desert I’ll find solitude

And nourishers of my soul like dew

He will need not my speech to commune

Yet would discern from the depths and heights

To throw the search on me among the myriads of worlds

Me, he formed of dust and to return

Into a worm then dust

The secret

Secretly they loved each other
Then he thought she didn’t
Now she knows she hid it
May be her pride
Or her scare of another ride
Before long the winds gave her ride
And they parted like strangers
Not a word or a hand shake
Nor a hug let alone a kiss
But suppressed emotions from one
As if never cared, the other
If she will know it was the truth
And he continue in his truth
Their secret
Clear like the falling rain
Will be.

My lovely charm

Mine, my lovely charm

I’ll call you

For all the gem

More precious than gold

You lay at my door

Freely

Just when needed

Though refused it

Like an anklet

Around the ankle

But yes! For a bigger car

Bigger than your cute body

droppings of showers

It grew tall and stout striking to sight

The sun shone on its muscular boughs

Sparkling all, its gold unending

The merry birds around danced

Not to touch nor their speech to be heard

Only their dropping showers

Which soaked the faithful tiny greens

At their expense at all times

To grow fresh and green. 

the gown, ring and book

In these moments

Wrapped up in a quest

I must not fail

With bone and blood

To form blood then bone

Smiles like infections

Will pull me along

My stern look

On a worn apparel

Designed to fit even in style

In these moments I recall

Merry not sad did I record

Warm thoughts expressed

By those carved calabash before her chin

Pleasing and possessing to behold

In there, he will swear

In front of all

But will run

Forgetting all

The gown, the ring and book

Think no more

When around you are

And you’ve seen her

There is no way out

Endure if you can’t enjoy to the end

Twisting this twenty

Twisting this twenty

Countless coffee cups

Will we willfully wine

This thy true

God given gift.

The line in her hair

In between the black

The shining long hair

She combs even now

Until in between it

The only line is formed

That line drawn not

With ink nor colour

Brings forth her beauty

On her curved cara

Deserted heroes

The silent tombs

The silent night

Meets in silence

Before the morn wakes

Lights not above

Their gentle glowing wings

Hover around the grasses to see

Eyes without bodies

Sounds within their abodes

And on the streets

The least step unclear

The silent trees

The silent night

Meets to whisper

Into time indefinite

Its leaves stay behind

Unwritten tales

Unsaid ballads

Of the great celebrated heroes

All to tell

Who alone

In their silent and icy graves

Will soon wish the morn to wake

Statues in front of tombs

Full of tears overflowing

Tears that speak not to dead souls

But resurrected souls

Even from afar

Decorated tombs

Engraved black star in gold

The pleasant greens and their fragrance

On the reddish floor

Which the far and near

Praised and hailed

Yet they stand here

With the silent tombs alone

The silent night

Under the watching sky

Full of the breezes

To meet in silence

Before the morn wakes.

Nothing like chance

I have believed nothing comes by chance

And knowing you have buttressed it richly

The unthinkable, what society has caused

And now must fight it with the unthinkable.

Little by little like flies on a sore

I deepen my painful wound

When all I have to do is to scatter them all.

As I review and ponder

Why all this from your question

Why I feel what I feel

Why I do what I do,

There was no answer;

Save a deafening silence.

Born on the streets

I was born on the streets

I feel not shy there

Surrounded by the noise

My loneliness not to awake

But cheer; the passing glances

The passing cars as if different

From another planet

I was born on the streets

With the blue sky my roof

Seeing the bats drop the remains of their booty

By my bed; wet by their fall

The dew, the moist cool breeze

Showing visibly on me like sweat on my forehead

I was born on the streets

I walk among the empty cans

The mountain containers full

Of rubbish: hiding the clear

View of the sun; our food

 Its odor the flies kiss

And surrounds us like they do with mangoes

I was born on the streets

Chasing the cars for a sale

My dad; ice water

Plantain chips on her head

My mother; I learnt

To snatch their purses

Because I must survive.

I was not born but grew on the streets

Because of a shadow of a passing cloud

Which left not on my path

Its acid rain which fell burning

But on my royal gown of gold

My brothers me forsook as I grew here

I was born on the streets

To feel not the cold in winter

Nor the sun my heart to melt

Walk by it in the day my food to search

Like the vulture

Where no one else will

I was born on the streets

Like an outcast

They saw me ; my life

They bothered not until time for elections

When they come near to convince me

Walking among the cans with me

I was born with a golden  chest

On the streets my key to this chest

I found not; because my

Mind though ready and fertile

To embark on whatever

Journey, long or short; had not

The directions but to grope in this dark

I was born on the streets

I grew up and earned my bread there

I once slept there but not anymore

They will sleep in my house

If time and tide pass me by

Not to suffer like I did, on the streets.

GIVE FLOWERS

Give flowers

To hands that stretch and open

And even when they close their fist

Thorns never give.

Dodge if you can

Talk with a smile

Bear them, their load of hurt

Convince and plead with them forever.

Into their palms let it lie

Guard them lest they fall off

Regard not how soft or hard, their palm

Give them, even the most beautiful

Sprinkle them if they reject it

On their footpaths leave them,

For passersby to know

That you ever gave them

Flowers heal and never bruise

Flowers forgive and never retaliate

Flowers understand because they love

So give flowers

Give flowers to all hands

Not only to those which stretch and open

Never give thorns

Not even once

TEARS IN THE EYES

If only you’ll wipe it

And think deeply the route before treading

Once is enough to master all arts

Not worrying should again they come

Your windows to knock and call.

 If only you could link it to the past

Invoking to remembrance

In you an immunity

To last for all times

And tears will stick in your eyes no more.

So near I have come

So near I have come
Yet so far I now am
Fruitless seeds
Dead before they were planted
Though alive when them, they received.

Our many efforts
Like treated water flowing into the drains
Like water falling on he back of a duck
Remain my story
To either bear or tell

Clear indications I can see
Clear speechless acts
I can understand and expect
But difficult to let go
What is not working, your dream.

I lighted this darkness
Even with the faintest light
I sounded its bells in the market
Yet no one bought them
My dead seeds remain in the soil

On the heated tarmac and desert
Where no water is
But the winds
Away their nutrients blow
To distill the only oases, our survival
Rendering us infertile, our land

Oh that this vine will grow
Its wine to smear our chest
Our appetite to cure and men to make
Oh that we’ll not be
Like this land this desolation, our story.

BROKEN LIPS

Broken lips in an open mouth
Broken skin at my heel
Will bring forth nothing
But broken pieces of yesterday
Tied up in broken parts
In this memory to night this day.

On the hill top I saw not
My broken footprints
But broken shadows darker than in the valley
Because my strength faints
And helpers feeble and frail
There goeth I a fading light
Surrounded by the dark in the eye
Only the mind knows I belief

And I will go forth in strength
In the hope of tomorrow
Though my body aches
My eye dims to flicker its light
Through the dark behind me
Back I shall not turn or return;
Onward ever, awaiting him:
He who will restore it all for me

will she come?

will you pass through to me
or pass me by
the night is come
alone i can not run
at the other side patiently
i lay to wait restlessly
for my angel my dearest
will she come...?

MY WHITE LINEN

So quickly it entered through me
Like a virus my body to eat up.
So slowly waited I
Not knowing if I would again raise my head up.
My system I watched roll away
Like a free flowing stream
Listening to sounds of its jaws
As it went up and down
Shredding the flesh off my bony soil.

One after the other, it will go
Licking clean my bonny parts
Those savor to consume in ecstasy
Until there is nothing anymore to take away
But a shameful soiled white linen.
With calmness without resistance
Those actions and commands
Which went on rather prolonged.

HIM AND YOU

If death will have you
You who loved and loved him
Not baldly but well; to him
Like praise full of incense from you.

HOT AIR FROM THE MOUTH

They will talk about you
It will not be seen on you
But will follow you
If you let it pass by you
Rather than passing through you.

FIRM FAIRNESS

I will tell you of firm fairness
And then not anymore
To tighten your loosen belts
So its hold never drop
A sound stronger than the bell to hear
Dizzy and giddy to leave you.

MY ROLE MY WAY

I play a role my way
A role not my role
Because he met her first.
Of one I don’t know
Nor would want to know.
All I only do, I feel
Could do better than he
Playing this role my way
Though he met her first.

Gone, no more will return

There was nothing up my skies
So clear after the clear showers
Upwards the passing voice to come
To break a tiding of no return

Not good, so brief it was
Not pleasant, what the ripper took
Not expecting, green not yet brown
Not avoidable, took it again like before

So violently without any hearing
So quick to even say good bye
His body already long displaced
The sudden wreckage that fell
His return never possible, he is gone.

could i ever live?

Could I ever live

After leaving ajar

The doors of this day?

Could I not have closed

If not shut completely?

Having been so gracious, the sun,

Let it not be said of me

That my eyes did hear

And ears did see

This passing moments

Once every 345 days

Now as it passes me by

Should I not seize it?

AN EAVESDROP BEHIND THE WINDOW

Soon the clock will tick
And it will be another day
Without a sound of her or sleep;

Like a rescuer on a sinking ship
My life, to gladly lose
Their lives, to mournfully save.

Slowly we sail the seas
Each step a solid step
The top, to build and reach.

Experience that takes away time
Might pay not but will stay
Over your raging storm to smile.

Send a perforated hand of a brother
And would not return whatever has lain
If not disgrace and an end to all relations.

TRUSTING MY PALM

Trust those ten fingers
Into my close arm grip
Close your tired eyes
And your feet
Will not stumble

THOSE TWO HANDS

I have stayed awake in restlessness
To picture those two hands which held each other firmly
And what has become of their vine
Have I to drink this wine of boredom
When you ever wore that far away apparel, your guard
Before I first met you
Now wanting to possess you

WHEN LOVE SONG WAS SWEETEST

If we‘ve had misunderstanding my loving friend
If it has rang at odd times my dear love
It has been the sleepless night of a sorrowful heart
Who forcefully had to bade farewell
To a loving friend, his dear one
When their love song was sweetest

STILL MISSING YOU

Even before your bus sped off
Even before you let go into it
I felt this lonely feeling
Thinking would not last
Here am I alone
There you are afar
Still missing you

UNCONTROLLABLE HEAVING

Would she have allowed me to go?
Soon as she heaved uncontrollably
These thick fumes darker than the exhaust
Clouded those entrance of her eyes and mind
A long talk many of repetitions
A point passed, the mistake made
Took a swap my waving cloud
Almost turned a home for flooding

A demand for a hug, went out calmly
Her response, for a shake abruptly
Then reached out aloud her truth
Something greater than a shake, out came
Held in my hands before they stopped

… This hug

LILINA

What’er winds blew my way
Indeed ago should have blown
Very early haven missed
All these goodies I now have
And may it not take her
Away, again I plea

Noble born commoner
Yet to possess I now
Commoner born great, like
The name I ever bear
That will make all bow down
Should she ever blink in glee

Thou beautiful petal
Blessed in magnificence
By their nurturing rain.
The closed eyes view thee
Like a fly in free flight
A halt to sap nectar

Ye brighter than lotus
Purer than rain water;
Oh thou gentle tendrils
the winds will blow your leaves
Passing, the hanging dark
If only you remain

Feel free maiden flower
Fairer than the clear day
After several days rain
Let not these clouds around
Blare your sight for I stand
Glaringly to be kept

Drink with me thou holy
From thy sap this thy wine
To poison my reason
Intoxicate to kill
No more to have any
No one but thou only

From mom to you

There lies there
Breathing of weariness
All the heaviness she has earned
The rising sun
The shining moon
Your heaviness her weariness
To nurture emptiness for fullness
In sight might be nothing as she lay
In depth to be cherished as we live
An award unknowingly behind her back
About to be conferred if she be lucky
Before her heart beats the last

And if she left before her laurel
I will tell you how she desired you
Not for herself but yourself
And if I should recount her smile
Just like yours when I first saw it
Those beautiful set of teeth
Opening to crown my presence
Her only worry that you be better
That you climb the ladder quicker
Higher where the eagles could not lay their eggs

My queen she said,
some day I would leave you
then young you were
not yet developed your enchanting look
my queen you replied
some day I would leave you
only to mimic,
not understanding her saddening look
her warm drops sipping through her pale face
tender arms though strong, you to carry.
I would leave you, some day
Baptizing you with her opened pipe

Mine still lay there breathing of loneliness
Earning weariness out of our heaviness
And if you’ll care to know
I would share with you all I have of her
As she still lay breathing of weariness
Hold my hands you’ll not fall
Slow your breath, its alright
One step at a time, we’ll get there
Picture in your minds, enough energy in your veins
Close your eyes
you’ll open, and we’re there

BROKEN MIRROR

They all passed it by not looking on
Their feet in a hurry to shake it on
The dust underneath it, off it, covers it
Broken pieces still shining reflected to refine
The psyche of this dying soul its seed to sow

Not seeing what lay there but their hurry
To do something nothing can be done
There, where they passed, lie there
Not what ought not to be done
Broken fragments lie there deserted

What those precious veins fell for
The brave protected with their fainting breath
What wobbling feet went in search for four years
Losing friends and family, lies there
In fragments and in pieces, there deserted

On that lonely road in tattered silky skirt
A far away damsel stoop to pick
Not to patch but shine a piece
Just her cloth, an edge of a cloak
With all its dirt, brightly it beamed

Once it stood the master’s bed side
That perfect piece of pearl wiped and shined
A constant reminder of the Astra
Hanged away from the visiting eye
Their mind’s mind jealously to track

Fragments and pieces will no more neatly show
An innermost soul the dark will grope
Fragments and pieces now in a patch
How we left it loose, the pain
And its scars painfully will remain

What was whole, a guarded gift of old
Broken mirrors, in fragments and pieces
Hanged patched, scars dazzling
Reflect again the mind’s mind to revive
The dust that ever settled on it in bits

CUBA: LA MARAVILLA

Who will tell of your wonder?

And the twisting and turning

Of your body and feet

As the hands roll it all

On the cleanest shores

With only sugarcane

From the overgrown fields

Who will tell of your wonder?

Of self satisfaction of contentment

That all must be respected

Not because of black or white

But traditions which are valued

And tied with culture to preserve

To remain green as ever, oh wonderful.

Who will tell of your wonder

O land of beautiful people

The sun will not stop setting

on your clean beaches

and keeping the sleeping night awake

in joy on the streets

oh wonderful like Patio Alberto Cecilia Julia

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Which will make you wonder and marvel

O wonderful people our friends

Having love in their hearts

And true smile on their bright faces

unlike those who took away

their canes from their fields,

let not the sun stop shinning

on their beaches o Havana

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Where our minds were shaped

Fidel’s Havana Marti’s Havana

In envy they sought to destroy

The twisting and turning

Of your body and feet

Which the hand rolls all along

In wonder to watch from afar

Beautiful Havana wonderful Havana

Wonderful people with love in their hearts

True smiles which faded not

In winter like in summer

Of her twisting and turning

I have watched from afar

In wonder, I would learn to be like her

La maravilla

Quién dirá que tu maravilla
Baila el twist con giro rápido
Que tu cuerpo y pies
Como
las manos
lo mueven
todo

Sobre las orillas limpias
donde sólo
las cañas
cubren
los campos
abandonados

Quien dirá que tu maravilla,
tu satisfaccion
y alegria
donde
Ăfrica se repite.
No por
el color
negro
o
blanco
Sino en tradiciones
que vuelan y se atan en cultura
Para preservarse
En vida original y verde

Quién dirá que tu maravilla
Ah, tierra
Maravillosa,
llena
de gente maravillosa
el sol no dejará
de amanecer por tu playa limpia
La noche no dormirá
en la calle porque bailará
en alegría
ah aquá gente maravillosa
como Pacio Alberto
ah aqua gente maravillosa
como Cecilia Julia

Llámame linda, soy de Havana
Havana que continuará a maravillándote
La maravilla es nuestra amiga
porque tiene amor
en su corazón
Y sonrisa
verdadera en rostros brillosos
No como los que roban las cañas de los campos.

Que nunca deje de brillar
el sol por las playas limpias
Ah, Havana la maravilla

Llámame también, soy de Cuba
Donde nuestra idea se formó.
Fidel luchó por mí.
Martí escribió por mí.

En su envidia buscarán destruirte
Pero al bailar el twist con un giro del cuerpo y pies.
Se quedarán como la mano que se mueve,
Maravilla, para mirarte desde lejos…

chasing after justice

Opposing torrents roaring to and away them
When their listeners hear another tune
Justice and justice nearer they beckon
Mounting the hill tops and plains
Asking the noisy blowing winds
And touching the running rivers
For answers and a stand still

Justice and justice all around us
Yet find we not when we call
Hiding their heads in the hole
Leaving their body all to space
For the little fingers all to see

We search for justice far away
When righteousness so near us to take
Take we not but in the dark shadows
To grope, strangers to lead astray

Justice and justice when time past
That hurt and pain that I once bear
Not smelling the aroma of righteousness
When close to it I had lain
Will leave me here, when all is done and gone

Justice and justice demanded his rights
With eyes that are covered
With the revenge of yesterday
Yourself you’ll become unjust
To even plea for her unfailing mercy

Justice and justice our undeniable rights
Mercy and mercy still the best

If we can temper with justice
Righteousness we’ll not call
But like our shadows will lie with us
All what we have achieved for years
The toiled respect and earned reputation
That we’ll be in the heavenly field
An illusion and its place a shooting star
Still roaming the firm firmament because of justice

When the free entry with mercy awaiting us
Will be gone.
Gone into perpetual glory without us

a morning rush

In the rush hours of the morning
My strife started
In search a sweet fluid
Solidified in a dear cane
Carried on the head that morning.
In wretched cloths that Sunday
To be chewed in harmony
By those on the way

The secret

Secretly they loved each other
Then he thought she didn’t
Now she knows she hid it
May be her pride
Or her scare of another ride
Before long the winds gave her ride
And they parted like strangers
Not a word or a hand shake
Nor a hug let alone a kiss
But suppressed emotions from one
As if never cared, the other
If she will know it was the truth
And he continue in his truth
Their secret
Clear like the falling rain
Will be.

what we can change

When there is a lot we can change
Little do we succeed in doing
When there are some we cannot change
An entire life, we fail even when devoted

Many …

In this strife have I found many
Many place guided by my feet
Many people have I met
Many things have I learnt
Many have I loved
Many have I hurt
Many have I forgotten
Many still have I remembered
Many tears have I shed
Many times my laughter seizes
Many more yet to come my way
Many times till my last breath.

by my side

Walk by my side
Chest up in the dark
Through my mind
You’ll stagger
Even with light

facing you alone

I love it when alone
To face you alone
Your stern look and glances
Your dazing silence in wait
To cheer or hoot in loudness

Car chase

Their passing steps towards the car
And the unthinkable will happen
A crowd in haste
A seat in a chase
Like an army of bees
Through a hole in a comb
Their passing steps, the most noise
Tum-pum pum-tum
Ceasing when vacancy restored

Not on a play field
Those gallant feet
Nor boots to hide their heel
But to run on the streets
All: family, single, children
And the elderly tum tsi-tsi pum
Their feet towards the car, running

In the pub

Take a walk with me
Pleaded I
through the dark
within the room at night
flooded with hoisted flags
their various choices of clubs
As we walk through the pool calmly gathered
and yet our clothes not wet
our minds will work
will do all the walk.
Amidst the silent minds
the lone voice will rhyme
showing the way
clearing the doubting rage
the turbulent fall to sublime.

la tierra en el cielo

Ah tierra en el cielo a través dela mar
Y
más allá de la desierta,
Allá
tan lejos como nuestros ojos
Pueden
ver es donde querría estar.

Hemos
oído de tú, España
antes
de que pasó por Accra
tu
liberta de los moros a causa de
la
ayuda de los monarcas de castilla y Aragón
para
eternidad será la luz en tus dos ojos:
su
hija amada, Isabel e hijo noble, Fernando.

Con
las alas de un águila renaciste desde
las
cenizas como el fénix
tu
descubrimiento del mundo nuevo
ganó
oros a tus costa que
te
hizo tan rica y un mundo poderoso

o España
te he oído de tu famoso franco.
Ghana
te ha oído, de Julia
Que
llegó a su tierra
La verde y la tierra de oro;
Que
promovió la semana Cervantes,
que
es semana de hispanidad ahora: una celebración
que
une nuestros dos países;
que construyó Lope de vega: lo que promueve la
cultura
de tu
país y nuestro país
que
nos dio caracol: el medio para expresar nuestros
opiniones
y compartir nuestros identidad rica

Ah España
¿cuando se será contigo?
Ah
tierra en el cielo a través de la mar
Y más
allá de la desierta,
Aquí
tan lejos como mis ojos pueden
Ver
es donde quiero estar
Ah España,
se te ha oído
¿Cuando
se será contigo

… soy para formar

Un
alma soy,
vacio
y inmóvil hasta que reciba
a mi
novia de donde ha sido dejado de dormirse
por
edades una forma espiritosa
que
se une conmigo
Un
alma vivo
para
formar

Una
articulación soy,
bando
y sin moverse hasta que recebo
en
mi casa un invitado distinguido
que
se quedara conmigo
Móvil
y duro, Un hueso
de
mi esqueleto
para
formar

Un
pensado soy,
y conducido por la voluntad vehículo
que corre rápidamente que el ciervo
que
persigue Los intentos
del
corazón como carne que toma
una
atuendo para Alcanzar
una
forma concreta

Una
mujer soy,
este
mundo llegué
para
buscarle de que he extrañado
tantos
años antes de que nací,
la
carrera a su casa
Está
dentro de mí para llegar
a
dormir su mundo formado.

kokrokooo

kokrokoo
Kokrokoo
kokrokoo
Los
hombres en una caza
Un
gallo en una fuga
Por profanar
la tarde
El
duerme de los ancianos
La
paz del pueblo.
Su garganta
se acuchilla
Por
una comida para aplacar
Los
ancianos cuando se levanten
Su paz
para restablecer


Kokrokoo
kokrokoo
kokrokoo
Tres
partes la noche se divide
El
silencio se rompe
Los
antepasados empiezan
Sus
viajes a sus moradas.
Los
hombres de la tribu
De sus
chozas y refugios se levantan
A su
creador sus alabanzas
Por
su sol
Por
iluminar la noche oscuro

las manos del reloj

Vuelva
las manos del reloj
Y
nuestro ojo llorará
Sacudiendo
sus aguas que
Nunca
estará de pies
Pero
correrá rápidamente
Por
su camino de agua

Uno se
encontrará cuentas
De
reflexiones de oportunidades que
Nunca y nunca revolverán
Por
un día, mes o más

Se quedará aquí
Pueden
cambiar y revolverla
La
situación
Se quedará allí
En
nuestra memoria
Se quedará así

Siempre se quedara
Se
quedará como temor
Como
pena y pesar y dolor
Y sólo
el tiempo la cubrirá
Aun
sólo por un rato

La costa de oro

Las lágrimas, como en la inundación,
desbordarán las orillas
y el globo se pondrá rojo y húmedo
por la pena que no se puede evitar,
el sufrimiento que se debe aguantar
por aquellos que nunca lo causaron.

Por la playa de oro
los rayos de oro caerán y se transformarán
en peces de colores
dejándoles estos oros
para que los recojan
caídos gratuitamente

La costa de oro,
un nombre que solo invocamos
y no significa reflexión alguna
En nuestras vidas: nuestra tierra de cultivos
que ha sido transformada en surcos,
unos se atrapan y se divierten
más que lamentarse de su muerte

Cuantas veces solo
excavarán minerales
mientras las “pilas” se dan
a cambio de dinero
que ya han recibido;
por papeles
que ya han afirmado

Les hemos permitido,
a los malos líderes,
guardar y proyectar
nuestros recursos,
a causa de una promesa:
la mejor condición de vida.
Todavía no ha cambiado,
Sino la peor condición de vida

Les hemos vendido
nuestro derecho de nacimiento
Les hemos vendido
El suyo también
Y el de nuestros niños
Y el de sus niños
Antes de que nazcan

Dime si no es avaricia
y autosuficiencia
de una persona que desperdicia
lo que pertenece a todos
El comienzo de demasiada pobreza,
el inicio de demasiados apuros

Nuestra playa de oro se ha convertido
en una playa de arena
Y nuestra alegría se ha vuelto
Lágrimas
porque
Lo que una vez se acoge
en la tierra, no se purifica
después de excavar

Los dueños viven en la miseria
mientras los servidores muy confortables.
La cosecha, después
de cultivar la tierra,
después de la lluvia,
es una cosecha muy precaria
con muchísimos acres de sitio.

Entonces
Las lágrimas desbordan
las orillas dejando
el globo rojo lleno de agua:
la pena que no se puede evitar,
el sufrimiento que se debe aguantar,
aunque nunca lo hayamos causado.

Nos harán reyes

En secreto, en sus apartamentos
nos harán reyes cuando nos den el rol
para dirigir el camino,
para que comience el proyecto

En secreto nos harán reyes
cuando accedamos a lo que pidan
para cobrar su dinero
que tienen tan prohibido.

En secreto nos harán reyes
obligándonos a maltratar
a nuestros ciudadanos
de la manera
que no harían en sus países

LA TIERRA DE FELICIDAD

Bajo el azul y la lana
donde el sol sólo brilla
en la media noche y por un rato,
la luna puede descansar
Aquí sed y hambre tendrán
aunque haya abundancia

Es la tierra llena de la felicidad
donde vive lo visible
con lo invisible
donde a la gente se le muestra
con otros ojos
lo que desea y busca de verdad
con los suyos propios.

En la tierra llena de felicidad
Juntos
cada momento compartido
vivían
pero sólo por un rato
antes de separarse
hacia otras tierras
para que los bendigan
Y los hagan suyos

Regresan a la tierra de felicidad
para establecer su fuerza
para recibir su vista otra vez
para que les recuerden su promesa:
La promesa del invisible
de lo invisible de ese gran día

Aquí
los amantes y amigos
se quedarán con sus enemigos
y no sufrirán sus almas
contra sus planes:
Los elementos y las estrellas sino

Allí ,
bajo el azul y la lana
su voz quieta se quedará
para hacernos una especie tan especial,
según su voluntad,
para que uno se vuelva
como él

El Viajero

Sobre la cubierta superior no puedo ver
A las personas que me despiden, lloro;
A los que me esperan y desean
Que se caiga mi equipaje
Sus palabras, las olas se las tragan
Sus miradas las corrientes esconden
Hasta que se sumerjan los esforzados y los fuertes
Me remontaré con los remos
Mi equipaje en mi mano
Desde un lado al otro de la mar
Mis rayos voy a buscar
Hasta que duerma en mi sol

En la sala

Baile conmigo, le supliqué
En la oscuridad del bar
entre multitud de banderas izadas
de varios clubes seleccionados.

Anduve por un charco tranquilo y todavía
Quedó seca mi camisa
pero nuestra mente trabajará
Y recorrerá todo
Dentro de la mente silenciosa

La única voz rimaría
Y el camino se mostraría
Y la furia de dudas se limpiaría
Para sumergirse en la furia de olas

-EXTENSION TO ALICIA’S POEM

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
En un mundo de pensamientos
De pesar y pena y dolor
De fracasos, de oportunidades abiertas
Reposo’ su cuerpo sobre la orilla
Miro’ al sol amaneciendo
Lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
La oscuridad cruzo’ su mirada
Volvió a la realidad, a la playa,
A un objeto, una cara familiar, sin saber
Donde se unió: sus pensamientos volaron
Como un águila en el horizonte que buscaba
Una presa, lentamente lentamente.

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
Él andaba a pie para satisfacer
Su curiosidad, despacio caminó
Hacia ella y la llevó:
A la estación de tren,
¡Que’ mujer…! él exclamó
Lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
¡Hola señorita! ¿Me recuerda?
Contestó ella negando con su cabeza
Sin mostrar su sorpresa y su reconocimiento
¡No! Exclamó para consolarse de su pena
El otro día en la estación de de tren, su cabeza
Ella ladeó un poco lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
Estaba él desilusionado ante su respuesta.
Era la primera vez en tantos meses:
Veía al príncipe de su sueño
Arrastrarse a sus pies,
Pidiendo clemencia
Lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
Dijo él en su confusión.
“Perdóname señorita, lo siento”
Es una persona equivocada yo pienso
Ah ¡dios mío! Dijo:
Regrésame su presencia
Lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
Antes de llevar a cabo su andar
Fuera de su presencia, oyó
Una voz que le detuvo, detrás de sí
Giró él su cuerpo entero para verla:
Ya se ponía de pie, sacudiendo
La suciedad de su falda lentamente lentamente

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos
En la mayor confusión de todo,
Se perdieron las palabras y en sus brazos
Abiertos entró ella diciendo
“Estoy de acuerdo, no digas más
Lo recuerdo todo”:
Se fueron a la playa riendo
De la mano, juntos, con el príncipe
De su sueño, lentamente lentamente

Nuestro regalo

Tu presencia cerca de mí
Por largo tiempo
ha sido un regalo,
Precioso y valioso, un regalo
que no comerciaré con nadie:
No por Salomón y su continencia
Irresistible y encantada,
a quien nadie reemplazará.
No por el lirio rico en plena floración
en la noche de luna.

Una gloria que no comparto
con nadie, excepto tú.
Te dejo este regalo;
es la fragancia riquísima
que llega de los colgantes
Jardines de Babilonia, formidables y altos
hasta la Pirámide de Giza,
hasta el Faro de Alejandría;
siempre su barco cuidado ha llegado
hasta la orilla sobre las olas bravías

Un regalo que no se puede cuantificar
y me llena
todos los días,
con tonos de colores vistosos
como arcoíris del mediodía;
un regalo lleno de comprensión,
un regalo que hoy ha cumplido
nuestra promesa de ayer;
un regalo que hará para siempre
nuestra sólida unión.